I think it is time that academic libraries become (why not call it) creatatorium's and align themselves with one big aspect of the Internet digital revolution - that is everyone now can become a creator and producer of all types of information and media and libraries should lead the way in faciliting this process and providing community spaces to make it happen.

Great question! I thought of the term as I was reading the above article this morning and did a quick Google search and did not find any relevant uses of the word. Although, I am thinking the term Creatorium might work better and sound better. The basic meaning behind the word is similar to the terms imaginarium or exploratorium. With a twist instead of only inspiring imagination and exploration let enable creation of ideas, tools, and products digital and physical. The library could become a community hub or nexus for innovators, educators, and inventors taking data,information, and knowledge then using tools provided by the library to create or turn their ideas into books, videos, and now with 3D printers create models and working products.

Tina Seelig, through her Creativity Crash Course via Standford Venture Lab challenged our team to look at BREAD in a new way and create as much "value" as possible.

Our team, Team ThinkingLab was inspired by the current economic situation that has impacted thousands, if not millions, of lives across the globe. Through this project we aim to harness the power of creativity by providing humane and practical solutions in our own little way. Feel free to share it.

I am totally elated to have shared this productive experience with Inês Amaral from Coimbra, Marc Alcover from Barcelona, Victor Antofica from London and Ms. Betsy Bayha from California :-)

This is an informative article by Jeremy Floyd about content curation and useful for novices. Here is an excerpt from it:

"In the past, we had a few channels of information and each channel had a few gatekeepers that sorted, prioritized and reported the information to the public.

Today, information-consumers have an endless supply of channels. News, entertainment, gossip and professional development all drain into the same information stream that flows rich throughout the connected world. The gatekeepers have been removed and anyone is free to flow about the stream looking for relevant and useful information.

Since people have “clipped” news articles, there has been content curation. Today, however, the information flow is that of a mighty raging river, and it’s easy to get lost in the current. Content curators are effective at managing a series of information pipes and sharing that with their following.

1. Collect:The content curator’s work is never done. Minutes after perusing your RSS reader 20 more articles have been posted and the cycle starts again. In the mainstream news era, the national news came on at precisely the same time every night.

2. Curate:- Consistent Subject Matter – Because the information flow is swift and always moving, content curators must be consistent with their niche and resist the temptation to follow whims. Define the topics that you are going to cover.- Direct Communication – Social media has no appreciation for nuance, so as a curator, be direct.- Filter Consistently – As news editors filtered the news that was worthy of their readership, think about what is relevant to your readership. Filter out the stories that are redundant, irrelevant or boring.

3. Communicate:- Be human - Bring your voice to your content. Be real.- Be frequent not a freak when you overpublish..."

In it he analized five key trends that had emerged from his numerous talks with CEOs, startup founders, technology vendors and reporters about what would be the key, most important best practices to emerge in the near future.

The first such practice analyzed in his presentation is "news curation" under the heading "Curate to Dominate.

Steve Rubel writes: "...what I discovered is that vertical curators like SBN may soon play a larger role in how we consume content than many of us may realize.

This has ramiﬁcations for both journalists and communicators.

Sports is one of the largest and oldest online interest verticals.The category is dominated by large brands - sites like ESPN.com and Yahoo Sports, which rose to prominence during the 1990s.

Suddenly, however, the edges are fraying.

First, athletes and teams are becoming their own media channels. Beyond that, new curators are moving in and disrupting the business. SBN, for example, rolls up the best independent blog voices covering individual teams into a carefully curated network.

The Bleacher Report, meanwhile, takes a more open, crowd- Jim Bansourced approach. Today its the 12th largest sports site, koff, Vox Media according to comScore.

Both SBN and Bleacher Report are demonstrating that there's a huge opportunity for new media brands to emerge that focus on separating art from junk.

This is all a result of too much content and not enough time."

And if you are asking what's the future of a curator as a paid resource or as a business per se, here is his answer:

"...what about breaking news, which is more of a commodity these days? Can a curator win in news too?

According to the 3.3 million people who follow the MSNBC- owned @breakingnews account on Twitter - the sub-140-character answer is "yes."

That's where we pick up the story. To learn more, I sought out fellow Hofstra University alum Lauren McCullough. She recently joined @breakingnews from AP as a Senior Editor.

...MSNBC has turned it into a 24/7 news operation that curates links faster than anyone else."

Find more valuable insight, names and brands already "walking the talk" on slides 4, 5 and 6 of this very interesting deck (Insights on the Future of Media - Volume 1, January 2012).

When people confuse data with information, they can make critical mistakes. Data is always correct (I can’t be 29 years old and 62 years old at the same time) butinformation can be wrong (there could be two files on me, one saying I was born in 1981, and one saying I was born in 1948).

Information captures data at a single point. The data changes over time. The mistake people make is thinking that the information they are looking at is always an accurate reflection of the data.

By understanding the differences between these, you can better understand how to make better decisions based on the accurate facts.

@Ron - One of the things I like about content curation at Scoop.it is that the images are clickable to take you to the content. So are the headlines and the link is in small print too, listed as the source. So, there are three ways to get back to the source of the content. I try to do the same on my own sites when I curate content or reference someone else. I hadn't really thought about the link at the end of the post being more or less visible. But, I think you are right. It should stand out more than it often does.

Do typefaces really matter? To most people, typefaces are pretty insignificant. Yet to their devotees, they are the most important feature of text, giving subliminal messages that can either entice or revolt readers, says Tom de Castella. But can different shaped letterforms really convey those values?

The power of the font goes back to the Greeks, says Julie Strawson, director of Monotype Imaging, an international type-design company. "The Greeks created handwriting and that's one of the most personal ways of communicating."

A typeface may never quite be able to replicate the intimacy of pen and ink but with an estimated 200,000 fonts to choose from today, there are no shortage of different styles to choose from.

Selecting a font is like getting dressed, Ms Strawson says. Just as one chooses an outfit according to the occasion, one decides on a font according to the kind of message you are seeking to convey.

One of the crucial dilemmas is whether to opt for serif or sans serif. In a serif typeface the letters have extra curls and bobbles, reminiscent of calligraphy, whereas in sans serif (literally without serif) the letter forms have clean lines without any protruding bits. "Some people find serif best because, like handwriting, it helps the eye to link the letters," Ms Strawson says. "With sans each character is completely separate, there's more white space which is why some find it more readable."

The typeface matters because of its power to create a sense of recognition and trust, she argues: "Everyone recognises the BBC just from three characters in Gill Sans. It's an icon. If you wrote BBC in a flowery font people wouldn't recognise it." Banks are particularly aware of this, with companies like Barclays creating their own branded font to reinforce a sense of security at a time when fear of fraud and scamming is high.

But Jonathan Barnbrook, founder of the website Virus Fonts, believes the power of typography goes beyond such utilitarian aims.

"A good typeface creates an emotional response in relation to the message it is conveying. You're trying to get that tone of voice right - you can shout or whisper. And you want to sum up the spirit of the age, because they do date quite quickly." People have become more aware about the impact of fonts because of computers, but the power of a typeface is still largely subliminal, he argues. Mr Barnbrook is best known for producing provocatively named, subversive fonts such as Exocet, Bastard, Prozac and Nixon.

Indeed there's no limit to the emotional range a typeface can reflect. "Typography is so closely associated with language so you can express irony and get the whole complexity of emotion in there," adds Mr Barnbrook.

Typeface or font?

A typeface is the specific letterform design of an alphabet. A font is a collection of all the characters of a typeface, including capital letters and lowercase letters, numerals and punctuation marks.

For letterpress printing, using hot metal, a font was produced for every size and style of typeface, but today fonts are delivered as a digital software file that caters for all sizes of a typeface.That is why the words font and typeface are often interchanged

Social Media, Learning & Libraries. Too often, professors think of research as books, journals, and libraries. Too often, students think of research as Google and Wikipedia. What happens when we use both?

I find that the most critical part of collaboration is "mindset." Most of us still have and use the industrial mindset, which in the case of collaboration is like trying to make a banana into an orange.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.